Alex James's Date Night - Saturday 1 August 2015, 7pm

Join Alex James for Classic FM's time-travelling, magical mystery tour through the history of classical music.

On the show tonight, it's a happy birthday to composer Christopher Gunning. Born 5 August 1944, Gunning is perhaps best known for his award winning TV scores for Agatha Christie's Poirot. He has composed the music for nearly all of the Poirot shows starring David Suchet, and worked on all three series of Rosemary and Thyme starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris.

Also tonight Alex discovers how Camille Saint-Saens made his debut on the piano at the age of 4, on this day in 1840, and marks the premiere of one of Rossini’s most famous operas, William Tell.

And there's birthday festivities too for the Australian violinist and conductor Richard Tognetti.